Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media report them inadequately. We blog here because our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, New York, Madrid, London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening and why. This ongoing war is killing us.

Monday, March 04, 2013

4-Mar-13: Trucks filled with food and essential goods are lined up outside Gaza. Would it surprise you to know the role that money plays in this?

Some months ago we snapped this shot of a small forest of state-of-the-art refrigerators at Kerem Shalom,
awaiting trans-shipment into the 'open concentration-camp' Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip, tightly ruled by the
terrorist Hamas organization for the past seven years, depends on the import of
a wide range of goods for its existence. Hamas has invested close to zero in
economic infrastructure and means of production for reasons that are obvious to
people who understand what terrorist organizations exist to do. Thus, since Gaza
no longer has an airport (see "Gaza airport destroyed by scavengers"),
imported goods arrive via three land routes: (a) the border-crossing with Israel, (b) the border-crossing with Egypt and (c) a vast network of tunnels from Egyptian
Sinai.

The sole crossing for the goods that pass in both directions between Gaza
and Israel is Kerem Shalom, the 'Vineyard of Peace'.
But it's not especially peaceful. This is where, in June 2006, infiltrators
from Gaza tunneled under the border and attacked an IDF patrol, killing two
soldiers, wounding three others, and kidnapping Gilad Shalit whom they then
illegally and cruelly held hostage for five years.Last August (2012), armed terrorists
ambushedan Egyptian military
base in Sinai close to Kerem Shalom, killed 16 Egyptian soldiers there and
commandeered two Egyptian armored cars with which they forced their way across
the border into Israel via Kerem Shalom. In the ensuing firefight with an IDF
contingent, six of those attackers were killed and, fortunately, all the
Israelis were uninjured.

For the past six days, Kerem Shalom has been closed. This was Israel's
non-violent response to last week's rocket attack on Ashkelon [see "3-Mar-13:
The terrorists of Gaza keep trying to destroy the electric power station that
feeds them"] as well as to a
sniper attack on Friday in which the personal military vehicle of
the Gaza Division's Northern Brigade was hit. Then yesterday (Sunday) the head
ofCOGAT said Kerem Shalom, as well
as the Rafah Crossing which is for people, not goods, would re-open on Monday
morning i.e. today. COGAT is a key IDF unit that is responsible
for responsible for implementing the Israeli government's policies in
Judea, and Samaria and in relation to Hamas-controlled Gaza

Hamas instructed the contractor that
his services would no longer be needed that that it planned to "take
over" management of the crossing.... [The] coordinator of government
activities in the territories, on Monday spoke with high-ranking Palestinian
Authority officials to brief them on what was happening at the Kerem Shalom
crossing. Replacing the contractor on the Gaza side violates the securitystatus quothat has allowed the Kerem Shalom
border crossing to operate... The contractor’s failure to show up stems from
Hamas' attempts to replace the Palestinian Authority's fanchisee with one of
their own, in an attempt to gain control of operations at the crossing and
increase its profits... The crossing remains closed and goods are not being
transferred to the Palestinian side [Haaretz]

According to Ynet's report, Nahed Shuhaiber is
the franchisee who until yesterday operated the the Palestinian Arab side of
the Kerem Shalom crossing in the name of the Palestinian Authority.Times of Israelsays Shuhaiber had held this right for
years and was "at odds with the Hamas leadership in Gaza". He
was told by Hamas officials, according to Ynet that his rights were being
ended forthwith and that starting Monday morning, the new concessionaire would
be Muhisan Sharafi.UPInames
Sharafi as a Hamas official.

It's well known that Israel and its defense establishment, as a matter of
policy, do not work opposite any Hamas-related entity.

The Hamas government in Gaza closed
the Kerem Shalom crossing on Monday, despite the fact Israel had agreed to
reopen it after a one week closure.... The border remained closed on the
Palestinian side. Officials in Gaza, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because they are not authorized to discuss the issue, said the Hamas government
in Gaza has fired the company that operates the terminal after a dispute over
the collection of customs revenue. The officials told Ma'an that Hamas wants to
keep the taxes, which are usually paid to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority
in the West Bank. Hamas has decided to appoint a new company to run the
terminal, they said. Truck drivers at Kerem Shalom told Ma'an that rivalries
over control of the crossing were impeding their work, adding that they hoped
the terminal would reopen soon. [Maan]

If you get to see
the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings from up close as we did last week, you can
hardly fail to be impressed by the massive (that's the correct word)
humanitarian efforts Israel has made to open the gates of Gaza to an almost
unlimited range of goods - in both directions. The capacity of Kerem Shalom (after
a heavy Israeli investment funded by us ordinary Israeli taxpayers) to serve as
a two-way gateway is vast - and greatly (and deliberately) under-utilized by
the Gazan Palestinian Arab regime.

We also noted how the inner circle of
Hamas fat cats are doing stunningly well from the restrictive
importation policies over which they preside and the wealth it generates [see
"How
Many Millionaires Live in the "Impoverished" Gaza Strip?"]. The price for this is, of course, paid by
the largely impoverished Gazans.

It turns out, when you look more closely than most journalists and analysts do,
that much of the daily pain experienced by ordinary Gazan Arabs is a direct
function of money-related decisions made by Hamas insiders. (We know how difficult it may be for lovers of simple black-and-white oppressor -v- oppressed narratives 'explaining' the Israel/Arab conflict to accept this, but life is messy and usually made up of shades of grey. What can you do?) For evidence of how
well this pays off for some of them, take a peek at "Hamas chief flexes muscles – literally" and therelated, and impressive, photo essayof one Hamas senior leader's rather
indulgent lifestyle. Here's a taste.

Khaled Meshaal works out in a private gym in a fancy part of his new
hometown of Doha, Qatar. Photo: Kate Geraghty [Image Source]

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THIS ONGOING WAR is not part of the activity of the Malki Foundation which was founded by us, Frimet and Arnold Roth of Jerusalem, on September 9, 2001. But it is inspired by the same tragic circumstances. The Malki Foundation (also known by its Hebrew name: Keren Malki) is a memorial to the life of our daughter, Malki. She's in the photo below this paragraph. Malki was murdered at the age of 15 in a massacre in the centre of Jerusalem carried out by Hamas.

Beyond its function as a remembrance of a beautiful life, the foundation provides tangible, concrete, invaluable support daily to several thousand Israeli families from every part of the religious and socio-economic spectrum: Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze and others who care at home for a seriously disabled child.

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Our daughter Malka Chana Roth

Born in Melbourne 1985. Murdered in a Hamas terrorist outrage in Jerusalem 2001

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This Ongoing War: About this blog

Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media often report them inadequately. Our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, in New York, in Madrid, in London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening. This ongoing war is killing us.